Monday, December 13, 2010

Back in the Saddle

After an enjoyable business trip throughout Alabama last week, I'm back and looking forward to giving the hogs a smack in their snouts. While traveling I read an article that the executive suite has their snouts in the trough, slurping down bigger and more expensive health care plans ... for themselves, of course. And paid by the company, of course. Joe & Jane Worker ... keep getting their health plans cut and their co-pays increased.

Why are the best paid and most able to afford these premium plans getting them for free? And those least able to afford them getting less and less? Simple, it's greed. The hogs in the executive suite get their pals on the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors to award them more ... and more. And then they grind down the common employee with less and less to pump up earnings.

Of course, the gold-plated health plans are tax deductible, even under the Obama plan. Not even that plan gives any semblance of fraternity or equality. It's simply a disgrace for corporate governance and for US tax policy.

Free Fraternalism would cure this with simple policy: all corporate health plans must be equal for all employees - no exceptions. Enforcement would be a 100% excise tax on any executive plans that provides better benefits for them. See how simple principles let one govern with transparency and ease. Let the highly paid spend their own money for better care.

Free Fraternalism - the Right Way.

Actions

Krypto wants me to sell some US stocks - not a lot, just part of Sell High, Buy Low. The buy part will be municipal bonds. We are now seeing good quality municipal bonds yielding over 5%. I'll be buying them steadily as available.

Also, prices for TIPs have dropped fast. Krypto sold all those at higher prices. We will re-buy them in phases when the long term TIP rises over 2% real return or the ETF gets to about 105. This re-buy will be slow as I want to average in.

Simple investing: buy low, sell high; and sell high, buy low. Remember, you can and should WAIT in cash for part #2 of each of these rules.

Word of the Day

"Kleptocracy" - noun [$10] a Big Al word.Kleptocracy means government by those who seek chiefly status and personal gain at the expense of the governed.Sentence: Who can doubt that the US government AND the governance of most US large corporations are kleptocracies?

About Me

I have a pioneer mentality. My wife & I live in the woods - neighbors aren't visible except slightly in winter. Our "bunker" - hehe, really a fine home & barn - has plenty of security. We have four dogs: Krypto (age 9, Kelpie), Ava (age 13, Rat Terrier), Sky (Kelpie, age 5) and Lucky Star (age 1, kelpie). I don't take crap from anyone anymore, having enough resources & gear stocked up to survive in any circumstance.
I have three degrees from Harvard including a Ph. D. in a physical science, and an MS in Management from MIT. I worked as an investment banker for about 25 years, mainly in secured finance, at three major Wall Street firms and for the last 17 years with my partners at our own firm. I'm semi-retired now, managing some private corporations and business interests and doing my own trading & investing. This is not to boast, but to give you an idea I know a little about some subjects from experience.
The photo is my 1943 M16 half-track which I am restoring. These armored vehicles were ubiquitous in the US Army in World War II and Korea. It's driveable.